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大案 (dà àn) — major case (legal, criminal); recommendation for promotion (historical, Qing dynasty)

Definition

At HSK 7 this word joins 大 'big' with 案 'case' to mean a major legal/criminal case. Its second sense — a Qing-dynasty recommendation for an official's promotion — is historical terminology, not modern usage.

noun
major case (legal, criminal)recommendation for promotion (historical, Qing dynasty)

Examples

  • 大案。
    Zhè ge dà àn yǐn qǐ le quán guó de guān zhù.
    This major case attracted nationwide attention.
  • 大案。
    Jǐng fāng zhèng zài diào chá yì qǐ dà àn.
    The police are investigating a major case.
  • ，大案。
    Zài qīng cháo, dà àn shì guān yuán jìn shēng de zhòng yào tú jìng.
    In the Qing dynasty, a recommendation for promotion was an important path for officials to advance.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

大dàbig
案àncase

大 means big and 案 means case; together they denote a major case.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
安
安ān案àn
Same sound today

案 pairs 木, a wood/tree shape, with 安, which is used for its sound.

Open 案 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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